MARK KIRK: SOON TO BE BRO WITH NO SENATE SEAT: WORST WEEK IN WASHINGTON WINNER MARK KIRK GETS SKEWERED FOR “BRO WITH NO HO.” Mark Kirk took his tendency for inflammatory comments to a new level after he was caught calling Lindsey Graham “a bro with no ho.” Kirk, who first doubled down on the comment and tried to downplay it as just a joke, has refused to personally apologize for the offensive remark. One Illinois conservative has already called for Kirk to step down and let someone else run. This isn’t the first time Mark Kirk has said something offensive. Here’s a quick roundup of some of his greatest hits this year.
Kirk’s controversy earned him a battery of negative headlines, the A1 treatment in the Chicago Tribune, and a slew of damaging TV stories.
Huffington Post – Lindsey Graham Is A ‘Bro With No Ho,’ According To Mark Kirk
Chicago Sun Times – Sen. Mark Kirk Calls Sen. Graham A ‘Bro With No Ho’
Washington Post – Who Had The Worst Week In Washington? Sen. Mark Kirk
Chicago Tribune – Kirk’s Re-Election Bid Complicated By Controversial Statements
Chicago Tribune – Sen. Kirk Calls Lindsey Graham A ‘Bro With No Ho’
Washington Post – Michelle Obama, Mark Kirk And His ‘Bro With No Ho’ Diss of Chicago’s South Side
St. Louis Sun Times – Mark Kirk Calls Lindsey Graham ‘A Bro With No Ho’
Talking Points Memo – Sen. Kirk: Lindsey Graham Is ‘A Bro With No Ho’
The Hill – GOP Senator Remarks: Lindsey Graham Is A ‘Bro With No Ho’
Washington Post – The Mysterious Etymology of Mark Kirk’s ‘Bro With No Ho’ Comments
Bloomberg – Senator: Lindsey Graham Is ‘A Bro With No Ho’
CNN – Mark Kirk: Lindsey Graham Is A ‘Bro With No Ho’
Washington Post – Mark Kirk: Lindsey Graham Is A ‘Bro With No Ho’
Mediaite – Sen. Mark Kirk Calls Lindsey Graham ‘Bro With No Ho’
Associated Press/CBS DC – Sen. Kirk: Lindsey Graham Is ‘A Bro With No Ho’
MSNBC – Kirk Dubs Graham ‘A Bro With No Ho’
Policy Mic – Listen To Republican Sen. Mark Kirk Call Lindsey Graham A ‘Bro With No Ho’
Washington Examiner – Mark Kirk: Lindsey Graham Is A ‘Bro With No Ho’
Business Insider – Senator Describes 2016 Candidate Lindsey Graham As A ‘Bro With No Ho’
Salon – GOP Senator Gets Nailed On Hot Mic: Mark Kirk Cracks That Lindsey Graham Is A ‘Bro With No Ho’
St. Louis Post-Dispatch – Kirk Says Single Sen. Lindsey Graham A ‘Bro With No Ho’
ABC – Senator’s ‘Bro’ Joke About Lindsey Graham Caught On Live Mic
Politico – Sen. Mark Kirk Regrets Calling Lindsey Graham A ‘Bro With No Ho’
Gawker – Republican Senator On Hot Mic: Lindsey Graham Is ‘A Bro With No Ho’
Jezebel – Senate Republican: Lindsey Graham Is A ‘Bro With No Ho’
Daily Caller – ‘BRO WITH NO HO’: GOP Senator Caught On Live Mic Joking About Lindsey Graham
McClatchy – Sen. Mark Kirk Calls Lindsey Graham A ‘Bro With No Ho’
NPR: Bros Before What? Lindsey Graham Would Be Third Bachelor Elected President
ABC 7 – Senator Kirk’s ‘Bro With No Ho’ Remark Caught On Live Microphone
NBC – Republican Caught Joking That Lindsey Graham Is ‘A Bro With No Ho’
E! News – Sen. Mark Kirk Regrets Calling Lindsey Graham A ‘Bro With No Ho’
GOP’S “CHALLENGING” 2016 MAP. This week, Real Clear Politics wrote on the challenges facing the GOP in 2016 as they try and hold on to their fragile majority, noting that “The map itself puts Republicans in a tenuous position from the get-go” and highlighting that vulnerable Republicans in Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire will face an uphill climb.
SANDOVAL OUT: “BLOW TO REPUBLICAN HOPES.” In a “blow to Republican hopes” in Nevada, Governor Brian Sandoval announced this week that he would not run for the open Nevada Senate seat despite months of public and private begging by national Republicans. Sandoval is the latest in a string of first-choice GOP candidates to pass on their respective races, including Mike Coffman in Colorado, and these recruiting failures mean that the GOP will be stuck with messy primaries and second-tier candidates.
CONTRAST ALERT: Democrats have been hailed for “building a stellar 2016 recruiting class.”
VULNERABLE GOP SENATORS LAUNCH ANTI-WOMEN’S HEALTH ATTACK. Vulnerable Republican Senators in Ohio, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Missouri, Arizona, Iowa and Pennsylvania are supporting an unconstitutional bill that erodes the ability of a woman to make her own healthcare decisions with her doctor. Similar measures have already been struck down in states across the country, and CNN reports that Republicans’ embrace of the measure “could severely damage their chances at the Senate level.”
LOCAL PRESS PILES ON BLUNT OVER HASTERT MONEY. This week, Roy Blunt announced he would not return campaign donations from scandalized former House Speaker Dennis Hastert. Hastert was a “high-paid lobbyist in Washington at the time of [the Blunt] donations.” Blunt caught heat for the move at home in Missouri – see more below:
KYTV: Senator Roy Blunt Refuses To Return Dennis Hastert Campaign Donations
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Blunt says he’ll keep Hastert donations
KMOX: Blunt: I Won’t Be Returning Donations From Hastert
Springfield News-Leader/USA Today: Blunt won’t return Hastert money
St. Louis Public Radio: Blunt, McCaskill take different approaches when it comes to controversial campaign donations
IN THE STATES:
COLORADO – GOP STRUGGLES TO FIND A CANDIDATE TO CHALLENGE BENNET. The Denver Post highlighted the GOP’s struggles to find a candidate willing to face Michael Bennet in 2016. After a strong start from Bennet’s reelection campaign, one Colorado Republican noted, “Why do you think there aren’t a lot of people lined up to take Bennet on?”
NORTH CAROLINA – PANIC MUCH? Richard Burr is clearly in early panic mode and going negative on Kay Hagan.
OHIO – PPP POLL SHOWS PORTMAN’S VULNERABILITY. A new poll from PPP this week showed how vulnerable Portman is in the tight Ohio Senate contest. Portman is “pretty undefined to voters even after more than four years in the Senate.”
MORE OHIO – PORTMAN COZIES UP TO KOCH BROTHERS. Rob Portman will be a “featured speaker” at a summit sponsored by the Koch Brothers. Portman is a favorite among Washington insiders and shadowy outside groups, so it’s no surprise they’ve already started to prop him up.
NEW HAMPSHIRE – SHADOWY GROUP HAS DEEP AYOTTE TIES. A mysterious outside group that has been airing ads against Maggie Hassan was discovered to have deep ties to Kelly Ayotte via her former campaign manager. Nothing shows more clearly how panicked the GOP is about Kelly Ayotte than her former campaign manager running a group that’s already going negative on her potential future opponents.
MORE NEW HAMPSHIRE – AYOTTE CAMPAIGN IN CHAOS. In a Friday news dump, the Ayotte campaign announced their manager was out after just a few months on the job. WMUR notes that “his exit comes shortly after a controversy surfaced involving the taping of an Ayotte campaign advertising video at a recent veterans’ event.”
PENNSYLVANIA – TOOMEY DOWN IN EARLY PA POLL. A new Robert Morris University poll in Pennsylvania shows Pat Toomey down six points in a head to head matchup.
FLORIDA – LOPEZ CANTERA’S ABSENTEE LEGISLATING. Likely Senate candidate Carlos Lopez Cantera is already facing questions in Florida about his absenteeism.
TWEET OF THE WEEK: Jess McIntosh from EMILY’s List wins tweet of the week as she points out the absurdity in Kirk’s claim that he was just joking – @jess_mc: Hoes, just relax. It’s just a little joke among friends. Who are Senators. And make laws for you.
